According to the survey conducted in Tbilisi in June, 2018, when purchasing food products, every third resident of Tbilisi (33%) almost always tries to find out whether the product is genetically modified or not, while the same quantity (30%) never pays attention to this issue.

It is quite interesting that origin of food products is more important for women than for men – women pay more attention whether the product is genetically modified or not and compared to men, more women think that this kind of food is harmful for health.

In general, genetically modified product is believed to be very harmful for health by the majority of Tbilisi residents (74%). However, it is quite interesting that level of concern increases together with older age – elder citizens are more concerned that genetically modified food products are sold on the market.

* The survey was conducted in Tbilisi among 400 adult residents using random selection technique, on June 2-3, 2018. The statistical margin of error ranges from 3.0% to 6.5%. Utilized research method – FTF interview.

We’ve been hearing about the death of retail for years now. An April report by Credit Suisse predicted that 8,600 brick-and-mortar stores will padlock their doors this year—a shakeout that dwarfs the closings seen even in the wake of the Great Recession. Malls in particular face the bleakest future, with somewhere around a quarter of them predicted to close in the next five years.

And it doesn’t take an MBA to understand why this is happening. Ecommerce is taking the place of the time-honored trip to the store and, what’s more, millennials—now 87 million strong—are at the root of it.

Or are they?

A new report suggests that contrary to popular assumptions about the much-coveted generation of digital natives, millennial shoppers actually like going to brick-and-mortar stores—a great deal, actually. According to research by behavioral marketing firm SmarterHQ, a whopping 50 percent of millennials not only go to physical stores, they prefer going to them as a primary means of shopping.

The finding is bound to leave retailers in a tough spot. With bankruptcies at record levels and so much of commerce moving to the web, “marketers have emphasized optimizing their digital marketing strategies with the idea that consumers prefer to shop primarily online,” the report says. “However, our data shows that it’s important for brands to breathe life back into their brick and mortar as well.”

But what about all the intelligence that said 20- and 30-something shoppers are most comfortable spending their money via web sites and apps—is that data incorrect? Well, no. But SmarterHQ’s study presents a more nuanced view of millennial shopping patterns, which, you might say, are multistage. As CEO Michael Osborne put it: “They’re using the in-store experience as research, but they’re not buy everything that way.”

In other words, millennials are big practitioners of “showrooming”: They frequently test drive products in stores then purchase them online at home (assuming they don’t whip out their phones and buy it while standing in the store itself.)

Historically, retailers have dreaded showrooming for obvious reasons. It leaves them in a position of footing the costs to put merchandise on display only to ultimately lose the sale to giants like Amazon that don’t have to contend with the overhead of mall rents or maintaining a store on Main Street. But Osborne believes that millennial showrooming isn’t as poisonous as it may seem.

A retailer that takes a holistic view of revenue, one that doesn’t pit brick-and-mortar sales against online sales, can adapt to showrooming, he said, by closing low-traffic locations and designing its ecommerce platforms to catch millennial shoppers as they exit stores with a purchase in mind.

“If you have a strategy around this and you’ve closed the unprofitable stores, this can be a good thing,” Osborne said. “Your digital channels will [get] a better margin.”

As to why millennials like to go to physical stores, it seems that (surprise!) they’re actually not much different from anyone else. Stores offer the opportunity to try out (or, in the case of apparel, try on) the goods before the purchase is made. And, like other age cohorts, millennials head to the store for a wide variety of reasons. According to SmarterHQ’s data, 30 percent are looking for a bargain, 18 percent have a specific purchase in mind, 17 percent are researching and 14 percent are simply browsing.

Even while it points out an unlikely affinity for brick-and-mortar shopping, SmarterHQ’s study does confirm much of what retailers have long presumed about millennial shoppers. They are not especially loyal to brands; they are rankled by too many marketing messages sent their way and they demonstrate a remarkable capacity to shop while simultaneously engaging in other activities (among them watching TV, chatting, and working).

The bottom line, Osborne said, is that brick and mortar still has a place in the retail landscape, but only those brands that calibrate themselves to the hybridized shopping habits of millennials can expect to prosper in the fast-changing environment. The findings of the study point to “a greater, longer-term trend in retail, which is if you don’t adapt to the changing consumer base and how and what [it] wants to buy … you’ll be left behind. If you adapt to your customer, you get to stay around. If you don’t, you don’t.”

Source: Adweek.com 

According to the June 2018 research conducted in Tbilisi, 86% of the residents are fans sport fans. It’s noteworthy, that most of the fans are men and 24+ respondents. Football (34%), rugby (23%) and basketball (9%) were the most popular sports among the respondents. Interestingly, Football is more popular among men, while rugby and basketball is more often named by women as their favorite sport. The age difference between fans of these sports has only been revealed in rugby case, as research finds, rugby is the most popular among 18-44 respondents.

Most of the respondents (72%) believe that rugby is the most developed sport in Georgia. It is followed by football (9%) and judo (7%) with almost similar indexes.

* The research was conducted in Tbilisi by random selection between 400 adult Tbilisi residents during the period of June 2-3, 2018. The statistical error varies from 3.0% to 6.5%. The method used was face-to-face interview.

According to the study conducted in June of 2018, 56% of population uses fast food restaurants with different frequency. Fast food restaurants are the most actively used by young people aged 18-24 (88%) while only 24% of respondents aged 65 and above visit these kinds of food places. In addition, it is worth mentioning that fast food places are more popular among men compared to women (60%, 25% respectively).

The majority of respondents (57%) spend up to 10 GEL per one person during a visit in fast food place. As for those main reasons why respondents visit fast food places, respondents name tasty food 52%, promptness of service 31% and convenient location 15%. It is also worth mentioning that only 8% of respondents visit fast food places for low price of service.

According to the survey conducted in Tbilisi in June of 2018, 34% of citizens are consumers of tobacco. Among them, 29% smokes regularly, 5% only occasionally. According to the results of the same study conducted in the spring of 2017, 31% of adult residents of Tbilisi were consumers of tobacco which demonstrates that the situation has not changed from this point of view. Rate of tobacco consumption is much higher among men (58%) than women (16%), citizens in 35-54 age category consume tobacco most actively.
63% of Tbilisi residents believe that the law on “Tobacco Control” will not reduce consumption of tobacco but the same quantity (64%) give positive evaluation towards new regulations.
The majority (58%) of tobacco consumers smoke more than 15 cigarettes a day and declares that restriction of tobacco consumption in public places did not affect their consumption frequency. Speaking of gender perspective, the difference is significant: 68% of men smoke more than 15 cigarettes a day while only 29% of women consume the same quantity.

**The survey was conducted in Tbilisi among 400 adult residents using random selection technique, on June 2-3, 2018. The statistical margin of error ranges from 3.0% to 6.5%. Utilized research method – FTF interview.

According to the survey results, most of the respondents (43%) are able to have a vacation once a year. It should be noted that a large number of the respondents are unable to have leisure. Among those respondents, 65+ respondents represent the majority (46%). The most popular reason of not being able to have a vacation within Georgia was found to be the lack of money (63%), followed by the lack of time (37%). The reason was the lack of time mostly for the 35-44 year-old respondents (73%), while the 65+ respondents were unable to relax because of lack of money. It is noteworthy, that men (47%) are more likely to not go to holidays due to lack of time than women (30%) while the absence of money hinders women (69%) more than men (57%).

Most of the respondents who manage to have a vacation, prefer seaside resorts (55%). Mountain resorts are almost as popular, which is visited by 44% of the respondents. 36% of the surveyed people visit friends / relatives’ or his/her own village, 65+ respondents doing it the most often (60% of them).

As it turned out, summer is the most optimal time for holidays (94%). Gender and age differences were not revealed in this regard. The number of the families who spend 500-1000 Gel on average for leisure, is the highest among all – 41%. 500 Gel or less is enough for 28% of the surveyed families. 55% of the respondents who travel within Georgia accumulate the budget for the whole year. 25% of the respondents do not need to save money for leisure (men - 33%, women - 20%), while 8% of the holidaymakers need to make a bank loan or an installment in order to collect the required amount.